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Malaysia observed a day of mourning on Friday as bodies and ashes of 20 of the 43 Malaysian victims of the MH17 incident arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang.

Next of kin and government officials attended a simple ceremony given as a mark of respect to the victims of the tragedy.

A specially chartered plane took off from Amsterdam earlier in the day and landed at KLIA at 10.00am local time (0200 GMT) carrying the remains of the victims.

The victims were received in a solemn ceremony on the tarmac, watched by King Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah and Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The coffins, draped in Malaysian flags, were carried by teams of eight soldiers to waiting hearses before being taken to private funerals.

The government has urged people to wear black and observe a minute of silence and prayer to honour the victims in the first day of national mourning in Malaysia's history.

All 298 people onboard died when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists as it flew to Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Amsterdam.